MICR (magnetic ink character recognition) technology is commonly deployed by banks and other financial institutions for reading code line character data, such as account and routing information typically found on bank checks. Because MICR utilizes magnetic, as opposed to optical, information to read character data, MICR readers are generally immune to visual noise.
Single gap MICR readers, which are vastly popular in check processing applications, utilize technology that transduces characters based on temporal signals from a single gap magnetic read-head. Such readers typically implement refined signal processing to improve the accuracy of the read. However, such systems are still vulnerable to noise that can interfere with their character discrimination capabilities.
U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/383,859, entitled FREQUENCY DOMAIN BASED MICR READER, which is hereby incorporated by reference, discloses a system in which the amplitude of Fourier components are used to identify MICR characters. However, additional techniques for performing this task could lead to even more robust processes. Accordingly, a need exists for a system and method that provides improved read capabilities for a MICR reader.